Directory of National Music Centers

Abstract

The international group of Music Information Centers (MIC) was set up in 1958 at the instigation of the Donemus Foundation in Amsterdam, Holland. It was originally called Documentation Centers, but since this name suggested a more passive collecting of data about music of the past, the word documentation was replaced by information. The intention of the group is, after all, to acquaint the musical world in a very active way with what is happening, principally among contemporary composers. In order to create for the group a framework within which it could act effectively, it was classed as one of the International Working Commissions of the International Association of Music Libraries (IAML). This also places the MIC firmly within the family of the International Music Council (IMC), Unesco, Paris, since the IAML is affiliated with the 1MC as an international organization. It applies as a general rule to the MIC that each country should be represented by a single center only. An exception to this rule is, for example, Czechoslovakia which, as a bilingual country, has two centers, one in Prague and one in Bratislava, the center in Prague nevertheless functioning as the headquarters. A further requirement is that a center be recognized by the national conmnittee of the IMC in the relevant country, this committee having in turn to be recognized by the national Unesco commission in that country. It is only in this way that a genuine supra-structure is guaranteed and it can be avoided that a center remains completely isolated. The tasks of a center are twofold, i.e. national and international. The national task of a center consists in being a place where the fullest information can be obtained in the field of national music production in the country in question. This information is of course based on documenta-